Thursday, March 22, 2007

TaxProf Blog


TIGTA: IRS Mishandles 27% of Innocent Spouse Cases

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released The Process to Separate Joint Tax Accounts for Innocent Spouse Cases Has Been Improved; However, Additional Actions Are Needed (2007-40-053) (3/9/07):

IRS employees did not ensure proper actions were taken or taken timely in 27% of the taxpayer accounts reviewed. The IRS did not always take action or take timely action to:

  • Suspend collection activity against the taxpayer requesting Innocent Spouse relief
  • Resume collection activity for the nonrequesting spouse
  • Prevent refunds from being issued to the nonrequesting spouse
  • Allow refunds to be issued to the nonrequesting spouse once the tax liability had been fully paid ...

As a result, some taxpayers requesting Innocent Spouse relief may not have been protected from enforced collection actions, and the Federal Government’s interests may not have been protected.

No comments: